Cushing likely to play Sunday
Texans veteran middle linebacker Brian Cushing took an important step toward rejoining his teammates on the field as soon as Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Texans officially activated Cushing from a one-week roster exemption that expired Monday.
It was one week after Cushing was reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell from a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL performance-enhancing drug policy.
As a repeat offender, Cushing faced a mandatory 10-game suspension. He did not appeal.
Cushing has been back with the Texans for a week, practicing with a primary emphasis on gauging his conditioning. The former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl selection is expected to play Sunday.
“I think it’s trending toward that, yeah,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “We’ll kind of get back with him today and kind of see how last week went, and then we’ll go from there.”
Cushing recorded 65 tackles in 13 starts last season and underwent shoulder surgery during the offseason.
“Absolutely, his leadership, No. 1, his knowledge of our defense, his experience playing in our defense, his toughness — all of those things could definitely help our defense,” O’Brien said.
Fairbairn hopes for rebound
Although he’s coming off a rocky game, Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn hasn’t lost his confidence.
Fairbairn missed a pair of field goals Sunday during a 24-13 loss Sunday to the Tennessee Titans. That included a 48-yard try that ricocheted off the left upright and a 28-yarder that sailed wide left.
“It’s definitely a learning opportunity for me,” said Fairbairn, who replaced veteran Nick Novak before the start of the regular season. “You’ve got to ride the highs and lows. The only thing I can do now is watch the film and get it corrected and come back for my team. You don’t want to miss for your team ever, but it’s going to happen.”
Both of Fairbairn’s misses were to the left, so he intends to correct his technique to compensate for the lack of accuracy. He made field goals from 42 and 23 yards against the Titans.
“Technique-wise, I’m keeping my eyes down the whole way,” Fairbairn said. “I’m going to exaggerate that this week, and I’m going to do that the rest of the year now that I’ve had those misses and correct it and get it right.”
Coach Bill O’Brien was supportive of Fairbairn, who made his first 11 kicks of the season and is 17-for-21 overall.
“He’s a good kicker,” O’Brien said. “I have a lot of faith in him. He had a bad day, but he’ll be all right.”
No plan to tweak offensive line
The Texans have no current plans to alter the configuration of their offensive line again for the remainder of the season.
Coach Bill O’Brien said he intends to keep former starting right guard Jeff Allen at left tackle. Allen had three consecutive false starts in the fourth quarter Sunday but held up solidly overall despite not having played left tackle since the final game of his rookie season with Kansas City.
“I thought Jeff Allen did a decent job at left tackle,” O’Brien said. “The false starts were not all his fault. We were in a couple different cadences there, and I’ve got to do a better job of coaching that.”
The Texans will keep Xavier Su’a-Filo at left guard, Nick Martin at center, Greg Mancz as the replacement for Allen at right guard, and veteran blocker Breno Giacomini at right tackle.
“I can’t say that that’ll be the line every week,” O’Brien said, “but I thought that those guys played well, and I would anticipate that that’s probably the offensive line moving forward here for the next few weeks.”
OLB Scarlett put on injured reserve
The Texans shut down outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett, placing him on injured reserve.
Scarlett injured his foot two games ago against Arizona. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Ufomba Kamalu.
Running game finds little space
Texans running back Lamar Miller repeatedly ran into a brick wall at the line of scrimmage Sunday.
The Texans were held to a season-low 53 rushing yards on 22 carries during a loss to the Titans.
Miller (15 carries, 56 yards) provided the sole threat in the running game as backup Alfred Blue gained 2 yards on four carries before suffering a concussion. And third running back Andre Ellington lost 4 yards on his two carries.
“I think their defensive line did a great job of just getting off their blocks and making plays,” Miller said Monday.